Our Lady of La Vang Shrine at Christ Cathedral

The Our Lady of La Vang Shrine on the Christ Cathedral (formerly Crystal Cathedral) campus in Garden Grove was blessed in a special event on July 17, 2021. The shrine’s centerpiece is a 12-foot tall Virgin Mary statue resembling how the she is believed to have appeared before a group of persecuted Vietnamese Catholics in a rainforest of Vietnam. Our Lady of La Vang has since represented hope, faith and promise to Vietnamese Catholics around the world. The carved Italian white marble statue, sculpted by Andrea Ceccarelli, stands 12 feet tall. The structure incorporates about 400 steel panels and 80 skylight glass panels. Aaron Torrence of Torrence Architects was the project’s architect of record. Trần Quốc Trung of GlobalSolutions Development was the design architect.

Garden Grove, Orange County
Photographer: Andrew Schmidt